Unscrambler for cans



April 7,- 1953 -J. ALBERTOLI ET AL UNSCRAMBLER FOR CANS Filed May 9. 1950 INVENTOR. JOHN ALBER o G/LB ERT E ALBEBT LI BY v fl jzm MY arren/ways Patented Apr. 7, T95? UNITED PATENT OFFICE Application May 9, 1950; SeriaINo; 160,974

11 chins; (or. 198-30) 1 invention relates to an unscrambler for rearranging articles from a conglomeration' or haphazard pile into orderly rows. More particularly, the invention relates to a device for automatically rearranging filledcans of the conventionaltype inwhich food is packed.

k In most canning plants; the cans-containing food or other material are storedtemporarily after sealing and preparatory to labelling; Such cansmay be stored in cartons. boxes or similar containers and then removed; when it is desired to them through thelabelling machine or other marking device. Labellers and markers are generally highly automatic and; are adapted to receive cans in a rowor single file. Thus when it becomes neces sary to remove unlabelled sealed cans irom their temporary containers they must be placed in an orderly manner with the axis of each can horizontal on the approach belt or conveyor leading to the labeller or marking machine.

.When removal of such cans from their containers is done manually, the loss in manpower and'um is objectionable since such labelling machines run fast and the manual operation must" also be performed rapidly to permit the labelling machine to run at itsmax-i-mum' efficiency.

This loss is particularly high when relatively small cans, such as are used for baby food,- are to be run since the handling per unit weight of contents is relatively greater in such a case.

The main object ofthe present invention is the provision of a full can unscrambler which will automatically rearrange aplurality of cans in an orderly row on: the approach belt leading to the Iabeller or similar device.

Another object of the invention is the pro"- vision of a can unscrambler which willhandle all cans from a haphazardpile andautomatically rearrange such cans into rows or stacks with the axisof each can parallel to the axes of the other cans.

Still another object of the invention is the provision ofan unscrambler which will handle relatively small cans with great accuracy. It should be noted in thisconnection that the auto matic handling ofsmail articles is more difficult to achieve than automatic handling of large cans.

Yet another object of the invention isthe pr0'-" vision of an unscrambler for cans which will automatically handle such" cans gently without marring' the same or causing bending or bulging which might impair their salea-bility.

Another object of the invention is the provision ofan unscrambler into which a carton or boxofcans may be dumped manuallyor automatically and'which will rearrange such cans in the manner above described with a minimum of manual supervision. I

Still; another objector the; invention is tlie provision of an unscrambler for cans which is inexpensive tomake and-maintain and which will obviate many of the expensive time-consuming manuai operations which would otherwise be necessary. H a

Qther objects and; advantages will be seen from the following specification and drawings where- Fi g. 1 is a semi-schematic sideelevation of the device partly broken away and in section to'show structure. o

Fig. 2- is an end elevation of a portion of the device as taken along lines 2- 2 of- Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the device.

The invention is adapted to receive cans between a pair of spacedopposed parallel guides orsidewalls I 2 which may be of sheet metal or thelike and which may be supported on the floor or ground; bymeans' oflegs' 3:

These side walls I, 2 term atrough 4 into'which the cans are adapted to pass downwardly by gravity from the pile in which they are dumped. It shouldbe noted that the space between the walls I, 2 is slightly less than the length of a can and greater than the width of a can so that a can entering the trough between the walls I,- 2 will automatically .bearranged with its axis in a plane. generally parallel to the walls i, 2 andapproximately centrally betweeri said Walls. Thus a can lying with its axis perpendicular to the walls L 2 cannot enter the trough; However, thetrough will receive cans vertically or horizontally disposed. o

In the drawings severaltroughsare shown in side-by-side relationship. Thus, side walls 5 and 2 form a trough 6 therebetween identical to trough 4 and sides I and 5 form trough 8. Side wall 9 on the opposite side of the trough tf-rorn the above mentioned walls formed a trough It with sidewall Since allot thetroughs shown are identical and have the same operating devices, onl-ytrough 4 will be described and illus tratedin detail. It will be understood however that any number of such troughs may be made depending on the number of cans to behandled.

The top edges l5, 16 0f walls I. 2- slope upw'ardlyin'the direct-ion ottravel of the cans or to the right as shown in Fig. 1. These two edges may be made horizontal, but sloping side walls are preferable since the cans are fed downwardly by gravity as will subsequently be described and it is desirable in most cases not to change working levels too much unless absolutely necessary.

Spaced downwardly from the top edges I5, I6 of the side walls I, 2 are longitudinally aligned generally elongated conveyors I'I, I8 and I9. Conveyor I? is positioned at the rear end of the device, and receives the cans, and conveyor I9 is positioned at the opposite, forward, or discharge end.

Conveyors I1, 18, I9 all travel to the right as shown in Fig. 1 and at different rates of speed with conveyor Il travelling slowest and conveyor I9 fastest, and conveyor I8 at a rate of speed between that of the others.

Conveyor I1 is supported at its rear. end on an idler shaft 20 which carries a sprocket 2| for engaging the chain 22 of the conveyor. A belt conveyor could be employed in lieu of chain 22, but the latter is more positive and presents the desired amount of friction between the conveyor and the cans. Drive shaft 25 supports the forward end of conveyor I1 and is provided with a sprocket 26.

As best seen in Fig. l, the cans may be dumped on the rear end of the device so that the cans are spread out over the troughs 4, 6, 8 and I in a haphazard manner. An end wall 28 is secured to walls I, 2, 5, I and 9 to prevent the cans from falling off the rear end.

Forward motion of the top run of the conveyor will cause those cans which can pass between the top edges I5, I6 to move forwardly to conveyor I8, and from conveyor I8 to conveyor I9.

Conveyor I8 is supported at its rear end on idler shaft 30 and sprocket SI and at its forward end by drive shaft 32 and sprocket 22. Conveyor I9 is similarly supported by idler shaft 35 and sprocket 36 and drive shaft 31 and sprocket 38.

The drive shafts and idler shafts above described pass through all of the side walls and are rotatable therein and are common to all troughs 4, 6, 8, and I0. On the side of trough 8 outwardly of the side wall I is a pulley 40 secured to the end of drive shaft 31 which drives conveyor I9. This pulley 40 is connected by means of a belt M with the output shaft 42 of a reducer 43 which in turn may be driven by motor 44 secured to the top of the machine.

Also secured to shaft 31 is another pulley 45 which is connected by means of a belt 46 with drive pulley 41 on drive shaft 32 of conveyor I8. Pulley 41 is preferably somewhat larger than pulley 45 so that conveyor I 8 is driven at a slower rate of speed than conveyor l9.

A pulley 56 is also provided on shaft 32 and is connected by means of a belt I with pulley 52 on drive shaft 25 of conveyor I1. Pulley 52 is somewhat larger than pulley 50 so that conveyor I! is driven at a slower rate of speed than conveyor I8.

Thus it is seen that the cans which are received by conveyor I! will be moved forwardly to conveyors I8 and I9 and at a progressively increasing rate of speed so that the cans on conveyor I9 will be spaced apart longitudinally of the conveyor. To prevent movement of two stacked cans to conveyor I9 a rotating wheel 55 is provided above conveyor I8. This wheel 55 is mounted on a shaft 56 which in turn is rotatably supported in upwardly directed extensions 51, 58 of sidewalls I and 2 respectively. Shaft 56 is provided with a pulley 59 which in turn is driven by means of belt 66 from a pulley 6I on shaft 32. This wheel 55 is positioned so that its periphery will engage any cans projecting above the conveyor I8 a distance greater than the height of a can. Thus, both horizontally and vertically disposed cans will be moved to conveyor l9, but the upper can of a pair of stacked cans will be knocked off the lower one.

At the forward end of conveyor I9 the cans are permitted to drop off and move downwardly by gravity. Positioned under this forward end is a pair of power driven rollers 65, 66 having a resilient. outer surface of rubber or the like. Said rollers are driven in the directions of the arrows thereon (Fig. 1). These rollers 65, 66 are supported on shaft 67, 68 respectively. Shaft 61 is driven by shaft 31 by means of belt 69 and pulleys III, II carried by shafts 6? and 31 respectively.

Shaft 61 in turn drives shaft 68 in an opposite direction by mean-s of crossed belt 12 which is supported on pulleys I3 and M on shafts 61 and 68 respectively.

Rollers 65, 66 are spaced apart a distance slightly less than the diameter of a can so that a can falling from the forward end of the conveyor I9 will be gripped gently between the yieldable surfaces of the rollers 65, 66 thus retarding the speed of the cans downward movement and then allowing it to fall from between the rollers. To insure each can falling downwardly with its longitudinal axis generally vertical, the sprocket 38 should be as small as possible to give a horizontally disposed can a sharp turn before it is released. To further insure vertical falling of the cans from the conveyor I 9 a guide plate I5 of sheet metal or the like is positioned between sidewalls I and 2 (Fig. 1). This guide plate 15 is spaced from the outer surface of the conveyor I9 a distance slightly greater than the diameter of a can and somewhat less than the height of a can. The proper distance may be arrived at by experimentation to give best results depending upon the size of cans to be run. In the case of small cans such as are used for baby food, this distance between the conveyor and the guide 15 will be about 1%; to 1% times the diameter of the can.

After the rollers 65, 66 have released a can, the latter is received on the periphery of a relatively large, vertically disposed wheel which is positioned about centrally between the side walls I and 2 and supported on shaft BI which is in turn rotatably supported in the side walls I, 2 and the side walls of the other troughs in like manner as the drive shafts hereinbefore described. This shaft 8| is provided at its end outwardly of side wall 1 with a pulley 62 which is driven by a belt 83 from a similar pulley on shaft 68.

The wheel 86 is relatively narrow and is preferably provided with a V-groove 65 around its periphery as best seen in Fig. 2 for tilting the can from the centerline plane between the walls I, 2 and against one of said walls. The wheel is grooved to tilt the can against wall I in Fig. 2. This tilting of the can is accomplished by forming the groove 85 slightly toward the side of the wheel that is nearer to sidewall I so that the diameter of the wheel is less at this latter side than at the other.

As the wheel 86 travels clockwise (as seen in Fig. 1), it carries each can slowly along its periphery and then permits it to drop when the axis of the can is substantially horizontal,

A baffle or guide 86 is positioned between side walls I and 2 to prevent the cans from moving to the left as seen in Fig. 1 after they have landed on wheel 80. It should also be noted that the wheel 80 is offsetslightly towards roller 65 0 that -86. should be as small as possible and still permit the cans to clear the roller Elias. they are carried past the latter by wheel 80. The smaller this distance, the less is any likelihood of the cans bouncing from the wheel 80 and becoming jammed.

It. will be apparent that the wheel 80: might operate satisfactorily without the groove 85. In such a case, however, some cans might become balanced on the wheel. without touching the side walls and others might be disposed at various angles of tilt to the plane of the wheel. Under such different conditions, the cans would fall from the wheel 89 at diiTerent points and at different angles to the horizontal. Since it. is desirable that all cans fall in the same manner and since it is also desirable that the cans should be as nearly as possible in a horizontal-position, the structure shown is preferable; The friction between each can and the side wall I is sufficient to keep the can on the wheel 80 until it is almost horizontal which is desirable.

The cans falling from the wheel 80 are received by a horizontally disposed belt conveyor 90 or the like which takes the cans to the labelling machine (not shown). The conveyor 90 may be supported at its end remote from the la beller by an idler pulley 90 which in turn isrotatably supported in bearings 92 which in turn are spaced from the floor by means of uprights 93-.

The belt conveyor- 90 is positioned under the lower edges 94, 95 of side walls I, 2 and runs transversely of the same to receive the cans from each. of the wheels 80. Guide plate 96 may be positioned between side walls I, 2 adjacent the periphery of the wheel 80 to prevent cans from falling off the conveyor. Another guide 9'! may be positioned along the opposite side of the conveyor 90 for the same purpose. These guides 96, 91 may be sufficiently high to permit two or three cans to be stacked on the conveyor 90. It will be understood, of course, that all cans received. by conveyor 90 will be disposed with their axes horizontal. Whether or not the cans are allowed to stack on the conveyor 90 will depend on the operation of the labelling machine. The guide 91 should extend upwardly a sufficient distance to prevent the cans from falling out of the forward end of the device. This guide 91 also serves to maintain the cans in a horizontal position and for this reason should be spaced from the wheel 80 a distance slightly greater than the height of a can.

In operation, it is merely necessary to dump apile of cans onto the rear end of the machine and the machine will deposit all of the cans on belt 90 automatically. The cans falling into the trough 4' will tend to rearrange the other cans above them so that they too will fall in as the lower ones are carried away by the conveyor i1; However, if some cans fall across the top edges l5, l6 of side walls I, 2 and perpendicular to said sidewalls the operator whois dumping the cansinto the machine may get. these cans into the troughs by merely sweeping his hand over the troughs before dumping a new load. However, the constant movement of' the cans at the rear endcauses almost all of the cans to fall into the troughs and the machine is therefore almost completely automatic.

We claim:

1. In a full can unscrambler for automatically sorting cylindrical cans from a haphazard pile into a row or stack with the longitudinal axes of such cans parallel to each other, a pair of opposed parallel guides: adapted to receive cans therebetween, said guides being spaced apart adistance less than the length of a can and greater than the diameter of a can whereby the axes of all cans between said guides will lie in a plane generally parallel to said guides, a conveyor supporting said cans for movement along a path of travel between said guides, said conveyor having afree end from which said cans are adapted to fall downwardly by gravity, retarding means positioned under said end for slowing the downward movement of each of such cans, turning means under said retarding means for receiving said cans and for successively turning each can from. a generally vertical position to a generally: horizontal position.

2. Inafull can unscrambler for automatically sorting cylindrical cans from a haphazard pile into a row or stack with the longitudinal axes of such cans parallel to each other, a pair of opposed parallel guides adapted to receive cans therebetween, said guides being spaced apart a distance lessrthan the length ofacan and greater than he diameter. of a can whereby the axes of all cans between said guides will lie. in a plane generally parallel to said guides, a conveyor supporting said cans for movement along a path of travel between said guides, said conveyor having a free end from which said cans. are adapted to fall downwardly by gravity, retarding means positioned under said end for slowing the downward movement of: such cans, turning means under said retarding means for receiving said cans and for successively turning each can from a generally vertical position to a generally horizontal position,.said retarding means comprising a pair of horizontally spaced rotating rollers for ,frictionally gripping, each can during downward movement of each can. therebetween.

3. In a full can unscrambler for automatically sorting cylindrical cans from a haphazard pile into a row-or stack with the longitudinal axes of such cans parallel to each other, a pair of opposed parallel guides adapted to receive cans therebetween, said guides being spaced apart a distance less than the length of a can and greater than the diameter of a can whereby the axes of all cansbetween said guides will lie in. a plane generally parallel to said guides, a conveyor supporting said cans for movement along a path of travel between said guides, said conveyor having a free end from which said cans are adapted to fall downwardly by gravity, retarding means positioned under said end for slowing the downward movement of such cans, turning means under said retarding means for receiving said cans and for successively turning each can from a generally vertical position to a generally horizontal position, said retarding means comprising a pair of horizontally spaced rotating rollers for frictionally gripping each can during downward movement of each can therebetween, guide means adjacent said end for guiding said cans downwardly with their axes generally vertical whereby said cans will be received by said rollers in a substantially vertical position.

4. In a full can unscrambler for automatically sorting cylindrical cans from a haphazard pile into a row or stack with the longitudinal axes of such cans parallel to each other, a pair of opposed parallel guides adapted to receive cans therebetween, said guides being spaced apart a distance less than the length of a can and greater than the diameter of a can whereby the axes of all cans between said guides will lie in a plane generally parallel to said guides, a conveyor supporting said cans for movement along a path of travel between said guides, said conveyor having a free end from which said cans are adapted to fall downwardly by gravity, retarding means positioned under said end for slowing the downward movement of such cans, turning means under said retarding means for receiving said cans and for successively turning each can from a generally vertical position to a generally horizontal position, said turning means comprising a vertically disposed rotating wheel adapted to receive said cans on its periphery with the longitudinal axis of each can disposed radially of said wheel, said wheel being adapted to rotate with a can on said periphery for turning said can from a vertical to a generally horizontal position.

5. In a device for rearranging cans from a haphazard pile into a row or stack with the axes of each can horizontal, a plurality of troughs in side by side relationship adapted to receive a pile of cans thereon, conveyor means in each of said troughs for suporting cans for movement along a path of travel in a direction away from said pile, said conveyor having a free end remote from said pile from which said cans are adapted to fall downwardly by gravity, retarding means adjacent said free end for slowing the downward movement of each of such cans, turning means under said retarding means adapted to receive cans from the latter for turning said cans from a generally vertical position with their longitudinal axes vertical to a generally horizontal position with their axes horizontal.

6. In a can unscrambler for automatically orienting indiscriminately arranged cylindrical cans, a generally vertically extending passageway, two opposed sides of which are partially defined by a pair of horizontally spaced rollers supported for rotation about parallel horizontal axes and having relatively soft peripheral surfaces for yieldably gripping the opposed cylindrical sides of such cans, means for simultaneously rotating said rollers in opposite directions in which their adjacent sides move downwardly whereby cans fed to the space between said rollers from above will be drawn downwardly between said rollers, a feed device above said space for feeding said cans thereto with their axes generally vertical, and a can tipping support below said space having a generally downwardly and laterally extending supporting surface with its upper end positioned for supporting the bottom ends L cans discharged from said space whereby cans so discharged onto said surface from between said rollers will be tipped to one side for positioning on their sides.

7. In a can unscrambler for automatically orienting indiscriminately arranged cylindrical cans, a generally vertically extending passageway, two opposed sides of which are partially defined by a pair of horizontally spaced rollers supported for rotation about parallel horizontal axes and having relatively soft peripheral surfaces for yieldably gripping the opposed cylindrical sides of such cans, means for simultaneously rotating said rollers in opposite directions in which their adjacent sides move downwardly whereby cans fed to the space between said rollers from above will be drawn downwardly between said rollers, a feed device above said space for feeding said cans thereto with their axes generally vertical, and a can tipping support below said space having a generally downwardly and laterally extending supporting surface with its upper end positioned for supporting the bottom ends of cans discharged from said space whereby cans so discharged onto said surface from between said rollers will be tipped to one side for positioning on their sides, a horizontally extending conveyor positioned adjacent said can tipping device for receivin the cans so positioned on their sides.

8. In a can unscrambler for automatically orienting indiscriminately arranged cylindrical cans, a generally vertically extending passageway, two opposed sides of which are partially defined by a pair of horizontally spaced rollers supported for rotation about parallel horizontal axes and having relatively soft peripheral surfaces for yieldably gripping the opposed cylindrical sides of such cans, means for simultaneously rotating said rollers in opposite directions in which their adjacent sides move downwardly whereby cans fed to the space between said rollers from above will be drawn downwardly between said rollers, a feed device above said space for feeding said cans thereto with their axes generally vertical, and a can tipping support below said space having a generally downwardly and laterally extending supporting surface with its upper end positioned for supporting the bottom ends of cans discharged from said space whereby cans so discharged into aid surface from between said rollers will be tipped to one side for positioning on their sides, a horizontally extending conveyor positioned adjacent said can tipping device for receiving the cans so positioned on their sides, said can tipping device comprising a wheel supported for rotation about a horizontal axis and the said horizontal axis of said wheel being laterally oifset relative to the central part of the downwardly projected area of said space.

9. In a can unscrambler for automatically orienting indiscriminately arranged cylindrical cans, a generally vertically extending passageway, two opposed sides of which are partially defined by a pair of horizontally spaced rollers supported for rotation about parallel horizontal axes and having relatively soft peripheral surfaces for yieldably gripping the opposed cylindrical sides of such cans, means for simultaneously rotating said rollers in opposite directions in which their adjacent sides move downwardly whereby cans fed to the space between said rollers from above will be drawn downwardly between said rollers, a feed device above said space for feeding said cans thereto with their axes generally vertical, and a can tipping support below said space having a generally downwardly and laterally extending supporting surface with its upper end positioned for supporting the bottom ends of cans discharged from said space whereby cans so discharged onto said surface from between said rollers will be tipped to one side for positioning on their sides, a horizontally extending conveyor positioned adjacent said can tipping device for receiving the cans so positioned on their sides, said can tipping device comprising a wheel supported for rotation about a horizontal axis and the said horizontal axis of said wheel being lat erally offset relative to the central part of the downwardly projected area of said space, the outside diameter of said wheel being greater along one edge thereof than along the other whereby a can supported thereon will be inclined to one side, and a side support relatively close to said one side for holding a can on said wheel from falling over in the direction of said one side.

10. In a can unscrambler for automatically orienting indiscriminately arranged cylindrical cans and including a generally vertically extending passageway adapted to receive downwardly falling cans in a generally upright position, a can tipping device at the lower end of said passageway for turning said cans from a position with their axes vertical to a position with their axes horizontal comprising: a wheel supported for rotation about a horizontal axis and adapted to successively receive said falling cans on its periphery, stationary means alongside said wheel adapted to frictionally engage said cans during rotation of said wheel whereby said cans will remain on said periphery for substantially a quarter of a revolution of said wheel before falling therefrom in a position with their axes generally horizontal. V

11. In a can unscrambler for automatically orienting indiscriminately arranged cylindrical cans and including a generally vertically extending passageway adapted to receive downwardly falling cans in a generally upright position, a

, retarding device for slowing the downward speed REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 876,291 Blakeslee Jan. 7, 1908 1,495,610 Paridon May 27, 1924 1,696,715 Huddleston Dec. 25, 1928 1,972,489 Rideont Sept. 4, 1934 2,169,833 Conley Aug. 15, 1939 

